On behalf of the UMUC Library, I welcome all new and returning students, faculty, and staff to the 2013 Summer semester!

It is a busy time for UMUC and the Library. Due to the recent UMUC budget shortfall, the number of library databases must be reduced beginning July 1. The Library’s name has also changed from “Information and Library Services” to simply “UMUC Library.” Finally, the Library Reading Room in suite 1500 of the Academic Center at Largo was closed on May 31. This will allow us to free up time and resources that can be used to serve our primarily online student population, no matter where they are located. Please see the full details on these changes below.

UMUC librarians are available for research assistance through a variety of formats, including 24/7 e-mail and live chat, as well as instant messaging and via telephone during regularly-scheduled hours. Individual research consultations are available in-person, by phone, or via Web Conferencing. See Ask a Librarian for more information and to schedule an appointment.

Faculty are encouraged to take full advantage of the Library's liaison program and course-related library instruction. Please familiarize yourselves with these services.

Library Database Changes for FY14

Given the recent budget shortfall, the UMUC Library undertook a review of UMUC online databases to ensure quality and coverage for our curriculum, while reducing unnecessary duplication. Together with the schools, the Library used the following criteria to assess need:

The number of times the resource was accessed in the previous fiscal year

Whether similar content was available in another resource or on the Web

How instrumental a resource is in supporting the UMUC curriculum

Overall cost of the resource and its per-use cost

Whether the resource provided access to full text within the databases

Feedback from external consultants who contributed to the Library’s Library Program Review Project in 2010

This resulted in the cancellation of 31 of 125 databases, while maintaining coverage of and support for our curriculum and students. In many cases, discontinued databases received few “hits” per year, relative to our student and faculty population. The database changes were coordinated with the Deans of the Undergraduate and Graduate Schools, Assistant Deans, and Chairs and Academic Directors. The savings provided by this reduction will allow the Library continue to provide the services UMUC students and faculty need.

Library Database Discontinuations for FY14

Discontinued as of July 1, 2013:

American History in Video

CIAO

Communication and Mass Media Complete

Contemporary Women’s Issues

Criminal Justice Periodical Index

EIU Executive Briefing

EIU Global Forecasting

EIU Industry Briefing

EIU Viewswire

Genderwatch

GeoRef

GeoRef In Process

IBISWorld

International Security and Terrorism Center

New York Times Historical (1851-2009; 1980-present retained in the New York Times database)

Name Change to "UMUC Library"

The Library's official name has changed from "Information & Library Services (ILS)" to "UMUC Library" in order to streamline the name and reflect the typical convention of academic library names. In the 1990s and early 2000s as online libraries were developed, effort was made to differentiate these new online or virtual libraries from their physical counterparts. The term "information" was added at that time to indicate the Library's expanded role beyond the traditional physical library. In today's world, though, the concept of online libraries and online library services is now better understood. The new UMUC Library name reflects current understanding that a library is not simply a physical place for storing books and journals, but instead an active, 24/7 provider of online information resources, services, and research assistance.

Library Space Closing

The UMUC Library has closed its physical location in Suite 1500 of the UMUC Academic Building at Largo as of 5pm on May 31. Online and other Library services, including Ask a Librarian e-mail, chat, IM, and phone reference, database access, Interlibrary Loan, circulation of physical books, and library instruction are not affected. This change allows the Library to focus on better serving the vast majority of UMUC students, faculty, and staff in our global community online and be more fully involved in the new learning environment and similar academic enhancement programs. Suite 1500 has now become the location of Career Services.

The Largo computer lab meets the needs of students for computer and study space, and students, faculty, and staff can still meet with a librarian for individualized research assistance in person at Largo, by phone, and online. The change also allows us to expand our use of synchronous online conferencing via WebEx for consultations. Reference assistance also continues to be available via e-mail and chat 24/7 as well as by instant messaging and phone during regularly-scheduled hours (see the Ask a Librarian page).

For physical materials, the UMUC Admin Building (Faculty and Staff only) and UMUC Largo designations are still valid as “pick up” locations in the library catalog, but requested materials will be mailed to the recipient via UPS or U.S. Postal Service, or delivered via campus mail for those faculty and staff located at in the Academic Center at Largo, Largo II, Administration, and University Center. The materials can then be returned to the Library via mail (a postage-paid return envelope is included in the original mailing), campus mail, or dropped off in the drop-off box located at the student entrance in Largo.

By becoming more of a fully virtual, online library, the Library is able to more flexibly meet the needs of our mostly online and remote student population in new ways, more fully participate in university academic initiatives, and be a model of the 21st century academic library for adult and distance education.

UMUC Library Staff News

Publications

Top Trends in Electronic Resources Management as We See It
Lenore England, Assistant Director, Electronic Resources Management; Lila (Angie) Ohler, Head of Acquisitions, University of Maryland College Park; Maria Pinkas, Metadata Management Librarian, University of Maryland Health Sciences and Human Services Library; Kari Schmidt, Electronic Resources Librarian; Kelly Shipp, Assistant Serials and Electronic Resources Librarian, University of Maryland Baltimore County; and Laura Wrubel, Electronic Resources Content Manager, George Washington University, co-authored an article entitled “Top Trends in Electronic Resources Management as We See It” in the Journal of Electronic Resources Librarianship, June 2013.

A Standard Model for Effective Global Leadershipand Disruptive Innovation in Online Higher Education: The MOOC Model’s Impact on Traditional Online Tertiary Education
Mark de Jong, Document Management Librarian, has had two articles accepted for publication: “A Standard Model for Effective Global Leadership” for the Journal of Management Development, and “Disruptive Innovation in Online Higher Education: The MOOC Model’s Impact on Traditional Online Tertiary Education” for Open Learning: The Journal of Open, Distance and E-learning.

Presentations

Evolving Tech Support to Manage & Discover E-Resources
Li Fu, Digital Services Librarian, and John Coogan, Systems Librarian, presented at Computers in Libraries in Washington D.C. in April, 2013. The presentation addressed changes in technical support for electronic resources management in the areas of discovery, access, authentication, and patron support. About 250 information professionals attended the UMUC presentation.

Keep it Streamlined for Students: Designing Library Instruction for the Online Learner
Reference and Instruction Librarians Rocco DeBonis, Robert Miller, and Neal Pomea presented at the Association of College and Research Libraries in April, 2013. The presentation, entitled "Keep it Streamlined for Students: Designing Library Instruction for the Online Learner," addressed their experience revising and streamlining the library's learning activity for online instruction.

Appointments

Jennifer Diffin, Assistant Director for Systems and Access Services, was elected as Secretary to the American Library Association (ALA) Library Leadership and Management Association (LLAMA) Systems and Services Section (SASS). This is a two-year term that will begin on July 1, 2013.

Electronic Resources News

eBook Collection (EBSCOhost)
You can now view content in the ePub format. The font can easily be resized for optimal viewing on mobile devices, based on the width of the viewer. This format enables easy navigation to anchored parts of a book. The table of contents has links to book sections for easy access in lieu of page numbers. This is a useful feature, especially on mobile devices. Note: ePub Viewer is not available for all titles, or from Internet Explorer versions 7 or 8.

LexisNexis Academic
LexisNexis Academic will now include results from the open web via a new Web News Tab. The Web News search is triggered when a search uses a large news group file, such as "Major World Publications," "Newspapers," or "All News." Web News hits populate in a separate tab in Results List view. In addition, LexisNexis Academic has now been enhanced to provide document delivery to Cloud Storage solutions. The initial phase of this enhancement will include the singular cloud storage solution, Dropbox. Users will be able to deliver documents from the LexisNexis Academic product straight to their Dropbox account.

Oxford ReferenceAnnotation functionality: Select text to highlight and annotate with your own notes. This feature is activated by signing in to your "My Work" account where your annotations can be stored and managed. Oxford Dictionaries Online widget: Double click a word and see the free definition in Oxford Dictionaries Online.

Faculty Corner

Library Liaisons

The UMUC Library provides library liaison services to UMUC faculty. We welcome the opportunity to work closely with faculty to provide tailored library services to individual classes, whether it be visiting your online or face-to-face class, assisting in adding information literacy components to specific course assignments or projects, or providing handouts or online resources customized to your discipline or current course topic. Please keep the liaison librarians in mind when you have library related questions, need extra help with research, or need instruction on how to use our resources.

Instruction

As the Summer 2013 semester is underway, UMUC librarians look forward to working with you and your classes, either via the UMUC online learning management system or on-site, in the provision of information literacy instruction. The transferable skill building and concept understanding that librarians offer in these sessions provide both a deeper comprehension and comfort level for your students in locating, evaluating, and using information relevant to their studies. This preparation and reinforcement will hold your students in good stead as they deal with the vast amount of available information during their academic careers and as productive employees and citizens. Please complete the Faculty Request for Library Instruction form to schedule one or more sessions for your classes.

Need instruction but don't have time to schedule a facilitated session? Consider adding a stand-alone instruction module to your online classroom. Please contact your library liaison for more information.